Birth Partners

As a Birth Partner, I ensure your role is integral and give you the knowledge and tools to feel at ease before, during and after the birth of your baby.  I understand the importance of ensuring you feel you are not just a ‘spare part’ and that you gain calm confidence to support your partner whenever she needs it.

Dan’s Story

I’d recommend Sophie’s Hypnobirthing course in a heartbeat to any first time parents (and any parents who had previously had a negative experience with other forms of childbirth).

From the moment we started the course Sophie made sure we were put at our ease and were sent on a journey from trepidation to actively looking forward to the birth of our daughter – not just her arrival, we were looking forward to the act of childbirth itself. We found the sessions themselves really informative,enjoyable and relaxing. I’d never done any relaxation or self hypnosis techniques before, but I found it very natural and comfortable and although they were focused on pregnancy and childbirth, the techniques are actually something that I have easily translated into my everyday life and have used on  a number of occasions since.

During the course, the techniques we practised at home helped us to bond with our unborn child and managed to bring us even closer to each other. We really started to feel like a team with regards to the birthing process and it meant that it gave me a much more active role in the birthing process and it gave my wife full confidence in herself and in me that I would be there for her doing what was needed and protecting her throughout.

When it came to the actual day of birthing, Nats was able to stay really relaxed throughout the early stages of labour, possibly we were too relaxed as Nats decided that we needed to go shopping!

We actually managed to complete nearly all of the early stages of labour at home and in fact possibly stayed at home too long. When we first called the birthing centre they told my wife that she didn’t sound like she was in enough pain so she couldn’t be ready to come in yet. When we eventually got there Nats was fully dilated and 2 hours after that call our daughter was born. Having seen some of the videos, I wouldn’t say that our hypnobirthing was quite as serene as some, but the fact is that Nats went through the entire labour completely naturally without any pain relief and she says that at no point did she consider asking for any. That isn’t because it was pain free, but because the relaxation and visualisation techniques allowed her to maximise the rest periods between contractions and so be prepared and able to manage any pain during the contractions. She was so pleased that she managed to have the birth that she wanted and if there is a next time then the experience we had has made us want to have the next birth at home.

We will always be grateful to Sophie for being such a great teacher and giving us the tools to have the birth we wanted

Simon’s Story

Having been through an NCT course, we were still concerned that we didn’t feel very prepared for the birth itself in a positive way as although we had had plenty of discussion about what could go wrong, we hadn’t covered what could go right!

After just the first session with Sophie we felt better about the big day and after the second session something just clicked and we both agreed that we had flipped from being anxious about the birth to really looking forward to it.

I’ll admit that the visualisations, relaxation exercises and reassurances didn’t come easy (not designed for an English bloke in mind I think) but it all worked to an excellent conclusion as it helped us to create a calm, relaxing and comfortable environment to bring the baby into.

The fact that both Juneko and myself were able to relax when the surges started instead of going into some kind all ‘all systems go’ like you see in the movies means that we were able to use the CD and breathing to keep Juneko in bed pretty much until the actual birth.  Thanks to our sessions I was able to keep Juneko’s focus on her breathing and relaxing through the night and I was pretty amazed that she didn’t need any pain relief especially when the midwives arrived and said that we were ready for the pool, so I got to filling that up as soon as I could.  Although I thought that I would be too squeamish for the birth itself it was actually a privilege to be there and lend a hand and if Juneko hadn’t had to go to the hospital it would have been a perfect experience.

We are very grateful to Sophie for her help and have been telling all of our friends to start Hypnobirthing as soon as they find out they are pregnant as it was a great help.

Phil’s Story

The birth of our first child, Oliver, was fairly traumatic to say the least.   So I was apprehensive about the thought of having our second child at home.   Attending the HypnoBirthing® classes went a long way to reducing this apprehension as well as the knowledge of having our hospital located just around the corner.   All fears were swept aside as soon as Sophie went into to labour as I saw her get straight into her ‘zone’.   She seemed so much more at ease, calm and acting instinctively having rehearsed what she had been taught.

The midwives understood what we were doing but it really helped having a prepared birth plan and knowing what to say to them if I wasn’t sure what they were doing was along the lines of HypnoBirthing®.  The labour itself went extremely smoothly and my role mainly was to remind Sophie to stay calm and focus on the natural process itself; i.e. to bring her back in to her zone, along with some easy light massage, cool flannels, music and the all important gentle caressing/kissing!

Throughout the labour Sophie remained very calm, focused and a tower of strength and I felt that the whole process was amazing.   Having Milo born in the most natural way and being able to hold him and be with him during his initial hours out of the womb within the familiar surroundings of your own home was very special.  But I guess it doesn’t matter where you are at the time, just going through this has been a mind-blowing experience.

The whole process has empowered Sophie with the self belief and all important knowledge that she was able to give birth, naturally without any intervention or drugs, in her own home; i.e. to reclaim her womanhood.   It has also helped Sophie heal the wounds of Oli’s dramatic birth.   Her bond with Milo is undeniable and her bond with Oli has been strengthened immensely as the traumas of the past have been explained and her self belief reinstated.